HOME - OSTI R2O

The STI Field Driven Research to Operations (R2O) Team is responsible for the coordination and management of NWS field-driven innovation and research to operations. The team works closely with the NWS regional Scientific Services Divisions (SSDs) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) service centers to organize and facilitate projects with the Science and Operations Officers (SOOs) and Development and Operations Hydrologists (DOHs) to integrate new or improved science and technology into field operations.   The National SOO/DOH, within the R2O Team, is responsible for oversight of the program, advancing national initiatives, enabling national and regional coordination among SOOs and DOHs, and bridging the gap between science and service.

The R2O Team oversees the STI Service Dimension Work Groups (WGs). The 9 WGs span Tropical, Marine, Water Resources, Fire, Severe, Climate, Space, Winter, and Aviation. Each WG is co-led by an SSD and NCEP Chief, with representation from the 6 Regions, AFS, and OAR. The STI Service Dimension WGs are primarily responsible for developing 3-5 year plans and Annual Operating Plan (AOP) milestones, as well as coordination on scientific and technical challenges.

The STI Field Driven Research to Operations (R2O) Team supports OSTI leadership in the planning and management of the OSTI Annual Operating Plan (AOP) milestones and formulation of the annual budget formulation.  The Team is responsible for planning and executing the Annual Office of Planning and Programming for Service Delivery (OPPSD) Pre-AOP meetings (Spring) and Fall OSTI science meetings.  The Team oversees the generation and collection of AOP milestone 2-pagers by each of the 9 STI WGs, NCEP Centers, Social Behavioral and Economic Science (SBES) Program, NOAA Testbeds and Proving Grounds, Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL), Modeling Program Division, Operations Proving Ground (OPG), Office of Water Prediction (OWP) and Office of the Chief Learning Officer (OCLO) for funding consideration. The Team then monitors the OSTI AOP Milestones on a quarterly basis. 

In 2021, the R2O Team conducted a large-scale data collection of all STI-resourced research and development (R&D) projects and subsequently recorded over 150 projects in NOAA’s Virtual Lab (Vlab). The data has also been exported to the NOAA R&D Database (NRDD). The Team is working to establish a streamlined process to manage and report the progress of this important work.

In 2019, the R2O Team established a transition plan review process to allow all NWS Portfolios the opportunity to fully review and comment on all transition plans, while also flagging any potential issues in transitioning proposed research to operations. Transition plan review meetings are held on a monthly basis. As of October 2021, 82 transition plans have been reviewed and 54 transition plans have been signed!  A majority of transition plans are a product of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)/ Weather Program Office (WPO)-funded grants.  The project principal investigator (PI) works directly with a NWS Point of Contact (POC) (as designated by the R2O Team) to generate the respective transition plan and present the material at a transition plan review meeting. The R2O Team closely coordinates with OAR/WPO on R2O, transition plans, planning of notices of funding opportunity priorities, and the review of promising research proposals. The R2O Team is also working with OAR Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) Transition Plan Tiger Team.

The R2O Team encourages R2O collaboration among the NWS Field, NOAA research, academic, and private-sector communities.  To facilitate engagement among the NWS Field and universities, the R2O Team executes the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET) Partners Program. Similarly, the R2O Team supports the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to aid the transition of promising innovations from the private sector to operations. The R2O Team is investing in a diverse future workforce of research-minded undergraduate and graduate scientists through oversight of the William M. Lapenta Internship Program.  Some of the resulting R&D from student projects have already progressed to NWS operations!

The STI Field Driven R2O Team provides programmatic support to major NWS R2O initiatives such as lightning, climate, tropical, tsunami, marine, and fire weather. It is also responsible for overseeing the FACETs and MRMS programs.

For questions regarding the R2O Team, please contact the R2O Team Lead (nicole.kurkowski@noaa.gov).